• Boy racers plan to meet in Levin this weekend, a year after a violent gathering.
• Police are preparing a strong response, with a focus on proactive enforcement and zero tolerance.
• Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden expressed confidence in police readiness to handle the event effectively.

Boy racers are planning to meet in Levin this long weekend, a year on from another meet there where a crowd of more than 200 people turned violent and hurled projectiles at police.

Horowhenua District Mayor Bernie Wanden told the Herald he had had conversations with police and was aware they were preparing their response.

Wanden’s hope for a strong police response was at odds with the attitude of the organiser of last year’s meet, who, responding to Police Minister Mark Mitchell’s threats of tougher laws at the time, went on television and told the minister to “get f*****”.

The coalition Government has signalled a tougher stance against boy racers, with an announcement this month that legislation will soon be passed to enable police to confiscate and destroy boy racers’ cars.

And Mitchell told the Herald today: “Police will be ready to respond this weekend with proactive enforcement. Police do an outstanding job at disrupting these events.

“This Government has zero tolerance for the reckless behaviour and disruption boy racers inflict on our communities. That is why we’re taking action to deter and crack down on this dangerous and inconsiderate behaviour.”

A Facebook post announcing the Levin invasion said: “Bring the numbers and in return y’all get a show.

“Block the pigs at all costs.”

Wanden said he had received assurances from police that they had the resources to respond this weekend, however, details about potential times and locations for the meet were unknown.

“I’m pretty confident that police will be all over this, and you’ve seen that sort of response a lot more in the past few months with different events around the country. So, I expect that they’ll deal with this pretty effectively this time,” he said.

“The fact that they [the boy racers], they’re almost challenging community and police in this respect, they think they’ve got the right to do this, it’s just astonishing, to be honest.

“I find it incredible that they would try to disregard the community’s integrity and credibility by causing mayhem. They’re just winding the community up – and we’ve had a gutsful.”

Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden says he hopes police will respond strongly to a planned boy racer meet in Levin this weekend.

A police spokeswoman told the Herald police were aware of “a number” of anti-social road user gatherings around the country this weekend.

“Police ... have plans in place to help ensure safety for all,” the spokeswoman said.

“This activity carries huge risk for those who take part and who observe, and is concerning and distressing to members of the public.

“Police will not tolerate behaviour which endangers others and causes damage to roads and property, and will respond appropriately to hold people to account for any offending.”

Riot police set against angry mob in last year’s night of mayhem

After last June 1’s night of violent, “senseless” chaos, the anonymous organiser went on 1 News at Six and vowed to invade Levin again.

Two police officers were injured after they were pelted with rocks, bottles and bricks while responding to the meet-up. About 30 police officers, armed with riot shields, were on the scene where more than 200 cars and their occupants had gathered.

Attendees themselves were also injured, with at least one man getting hit by a car as it did a burnout while others set off firecrackers.

A resident with a bird’s eye view of the chaos thought he was watching a tragedy unfold.

Guy Morgan said it was a miracle no one watching the burnouts was killed.

Not only was the crowd that circled the main State Highway 1 intersection in Levin in danger of being hit by the out-of-control sliding cars, but at least 15 people had managed to climb up on shop facades.

Morgan, who is retired, said he was woken by the crowd and the sound of tyres exploding about 3am on Sunday. He could only watch on and pray that nobody got hurt.

“There was a guy hanging out the window and he could have easily been cut in half. It was that moronic.

Skid marks left a large group of cars did burnouts during a car meet in Levin. Photo / Dallas Puha

Police Inspector Ross Grantham said his officers were put at serious risk by the aggressive behaviour of many involved in the night’s event.

One attendee who was arrested was allegedly found carrying a flick knife, and another was allegedly wearing a stab-proof vest.

“This is incredibly concerning, as it indicates that the crowd was not just car enthusiasts, but included people out to deliberately provoke, aggravate and endanger,” Grantham said.

Six cars were impounded, one person was arrested for disorderly behaviour and another for obstruction.

Wanden told the Herald today that he understood the event planned for this weekend was “in memory” of last year’s – “which is sad to see, to be honest”.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.